


un-complicate

by dawittiest



Category: The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Blindfolds, Cunnilingus, F/F, Femslash February, Fingering, Post-Defenders, Self-Bondage, Shibari, Tantric Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-18 08:46:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13678290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dawittiest/pseuds/dawittiest
Summary: Claire would like to stop falling for complicated people. (It may be that she has a type.)





	un-complicate

**Author's Note:**

> Claire and Colleen being gal pals for Femslash February! I’ve been thinking about writing the two of them ever since I watched _Defenders_ (there are… literally 6 works in their tag, unbelievable, do I have to do everything myself). This is mostly PWP. Also, it’s probably the happiest thing I’ve ever written.
> 
> Thanks to DancingPlague for beta, you’re the real MVP!
> 
> Dedicated to all my gay girls in fandom<3

Claire had never intended for her life to become a bad comic book.

In hindsight, she might have done more to avoid people with abilities (not springing to aid whenever she met one would be a start, but Claire can’t change that helping people is what she does). She patched them up, she fought by their side now; she’s in too deep. And if she could, Claire’s not sure that she’d go back and change anything. But even so, she _really_ didn’t mean to keep falling for superheroes.

Claire never wanted to be Lois Lane. The love interest, hero’s girl – she knows how they all end up. Dead, or criminally insane, or both. She has some sense of self-preservation left. And when you’re dating a superhero, by necessity your problems take second place. She doesn’t want to play a supporting role in her own life. Stay up all night, wondering if her man will ever come home.

Except she keeps doing that. Claire meant what she told Foggy Nelson that one time – she doesn’t need complicated. It’s just that her stupid heart apparently has different ideas. First, there was Matt Murdock. Claire could so easily see herself falling in love with him. Sad eyes, an ass that won’t quit, and a heart of gold – Claire has a type. But Matt would break her heart by just being himself, getting bloody every night trying to exorcise his demons, breaking his own back with self-doubt and guilt weighing on his shoulders, and ending up dead, like she always knew he would. She made the right choice not allowing the thing between them to become something, she knows it. Falling in love would have made this so much harder. (It’s possible that he still broke her heart).

Then there was Luke.

With Luke, Claire let herself become careless. She let herself fall in love with him. She let herself imagine a future with him, for the first time (a cluttered cozy apartment close to her mom, Claire working at a hospital, Luke doing something helping people like he always does, like they both do, maybe a little girl, or a dog, maybe growing old in that cluttered cozy apartment together, maybe, maybe, maybe). She let herself, just for a moment, hope they’d have _ever after_.

There was no _ever after_ , of course. Luke, too, like all her relationships, didn’t last. But it’s _Luke_ so he was respectful, they both were mature about the split, and they remained friends, real friends, not what you tell your ex to be polite and only exchange awkward messages over Christmas. She meets up with Luke every once in a while, over tea, and they talk about what’s going on in their lives, and they confide in each other, and are still close.

It’s possibly even worse.

So, after Luke, Claire made herself a promise: she won’t fall for a super-person again. She’ll continue to help them and patch them up, and maybe even indulge their crazy. She’ll be Luke’s friend, and Danny’s, and Jessica’s, and Colleen’s, and that’s all she’ll be. She’s done falling for complicated people.

Claire really should’ve known better than to make promises.

 

* * *

 

They have a routine. Every week, ten p.m. Tuesday or Thursday depending on Claire’s chaotic schedule, Colleen and her meet after hours in the dojo to spar one on one. Claire used to go to the classes, like everyone else, but Colleen said that if she plans to save the city on the regular she needs to brush up on her martial arts, and group lessons can only go so far, and she’d be happy to teach her, honestly, it’s no trouble at all, and, well – somewhere along the way it stopped being just training and because something fun to do together. Claire has friends – _weird_ friends, but good friends nonetheless. They hang out.

So that’s what they’re doing – though sparring might be generous. That implies Claire can somewhat keep up.

Colleen hooks her ankle on Claire’s and grabs her arm, and suddenly Claire is flat on her ass.

“ _Ow_ ,” she says. Colleen laughs and extends her hand.

“Again?” she asks, a little breathlessly, with that little excited grin she gets when she fights. Claire accepts her hand gratefully.

“Sure,” she says, putting her hands on her hips and stretching. Something pops in her spine. “I love getting my ass beat.”

Colleen smiles at her lopsidedly and puts a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Give yourself more credit. You’re a fast learner. Look, you got me breathless!” she adds, grinning.

Claire returns her smile way too easily.

“Barely.” She sighs. “Okay. I’m ready. Come at me.” She hooks her fingers, _come ‘ere_.

She is, as it turns out, not ready. Colleen only has to some fancy thing with her feet and Claire doesn’t even raise her fists before she’s on her back again.

“Ooof,” she exhales. “A break, coach?”

Colleen throws her hair over head back and makes an impatient hand motion.

“You’ve got one more in you. Come on, on your feet.”

Claire clambers up slowly. Colleen shoots her a cheeky grin as Claire cautiously circles her.

Colleen feet shots up but this time Claire grabs her ankle. And tickles her.

Colleen squawks and Claire tackles her. They come crashing to the ground. Claire lands gracelessly with her arms on both sides of Colleen.

“I got you this time,” Clare breathes.

“That you did,” Colleen agrees and leans up to kiss her.

Claire makes a startled noise in her throat and Colleen flips them.

“Now I got you,” she whispers and kisses her again.

Her lips are soft and a little cracked and taste like raspberry chapstick, and she nibbles gently at Claire’s lower lip. Her tongue brushes Claire’s teeth and laps a little on the inside of her mouth and Claire meets it enthusiastically. She tastes candy sweet like medicine and a hint of lo mein, which is a little gross and a lot amazing. Colleen’s silky hair is tickling Claire’s chin, and her warm weight envelops her in a way that’s both comforting and thrilling. Colleen shifts, pressing her thigh against her more firmly and Claire realizes in a snap that she’s wet.

She flips them over and leans back on her heels.

“Uh… back up,” she says, her head spinning a little, and doesn’t seem to be able to make words anymore. Colleen rolls on her side and props her head on her hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, her eyes going soft.

Claire doesn’t know what to say to that, so she gets up. Colleen’s eyes follow her as she makes a few uneasy paces back and forth, a heavy weight on her. Finally, she stops.

“Not wrong,” she says at last, tentative. “Just… unexpected.”

Colleen’s eyebrows rise on her forehead.

“Really?” she asks, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I’d say you could have expected this.”

Claire thinks about all their late-night sparring sessions, and Colleen’s soft smiles, and her tears as they both poured out their souls, and… yeah.

“Maybe not unexpected,” Claire allows. “Just that I didn’t expect it. I’m… not prepared to respond to that.”

Colleen laughs quietly, shifting into more comfortable pose on the mat.

“Well, you usually respond to a kiss by kissing back or not.” Her smile gets a little wicked. “Judging by the way you kissed me back just now, maybe you wanna keep doing it?”

Claire bites her lip.

“No, I… definitely wanna keep doing it.” Colleen curls her lips, eyes twinkling. “It’s just… what does it mean?”

“What do you want it to mean?” Colleen asks, looking at her with that serious look in her eyes.

“I don’t wanna be a rebound girl,” Claire says, shrugging her shoulder a little. Colleen sits up and crosses her legs.

“Neither do I.” She wraps her hands over her ankles and rests her chin on her knee.

“That’s…” Claire searches for a word that describes it, “not what this is,” she settles on. Colleen smiles.

“Good,” she says. Claire licks her mouth.

“But.” Colleen rolls her eyes a little good-naturedly.

“You can take for what it is now, it’s allowed. You don’t need to worry about the future.” Claire gives her a bittersweet smile.

“That easy?”

“Sometimes it is,” Colleen says, smiling gently too.

 _I don’t want complicated_ , Claire thinks. Then, _I promised myself I won’t fall for a super-person again_. And then, _I_ definitely _wanna keep doing it._

She sits back down on her legs in front of Colleen.

“Okay,” Claire says and leans up to kiss her.

Colleen’s hands lift to her face, one sliding into her hair and the other cupping her cheek lightly. She bites a little on Claire’s lip, on the spot she chewed through before herself. It lights a little spark of pain and Claire opens her mouth more, tangles her fingers in Colleen’s silky smooth, slightly sweaty cascade of long hair.

Colleen’s hands trail down to her hips, her thumbs sliding up Claire’s shirt and stroking the sensitive flesh. Claire hums into her lips and Colleen rubs her lower back, digs her fingers into the dimples there. Claire muffles a moan in Colleen’s mouth.

“Sensitive spot?” Colleen sighs against her lips, rubbing her thumb.

Claire answers with a soft moan. “Where’s yours?” she breathes.

She doesn’t wait for an answer, bites the edge of Colleen’s jaw and soothes it, sucks a wet kiss under her ear. Colleen sighs, tilting her head to let her in more.

“How’d you know?” she gasps.

“Lucky guess,” Claire murmurs into her skin.

Colleen curls her hands into Claire’s shirt and pull her down with her. Claire fits herself between Colleen’s strong legs and sucks another kiss into her skin. Colleen’s fingers return to her back, stroking firmly; the throbbing between her legs gets more intense.

Claire doesn’t have a lot of experience with women, just a drunken hookup with a friend of which she doesn’t remember anything other than it felt good. But she’s eager to figure it out.

She kisses her way down Colleen’s neck, presses her mouth into the hollow of her throat. Colleen groans breathily and the skin underneath Claire’s lips thrums. She scraps the edge of her teeth on the sharp point of the clavicle, pulling on the collar of Colleen’s loose t-shirt to explore. Colleen pushes her back gently and Claire looks up but before a question reaches her lips, Colleen pulls her tank top over her head and tugs her back close. A breath leaves Claire’s lips. Colleen has a mole right under the edge of her sports bra. Claire’s hand grasps Colleen’s bent knee, slips down clumsily. Colleen’s fingers slide to her hips and squeeze gently.

“Wait, wait,” she murmurs. Claire lifts her head, glancing up at her questioningly. Colleen nestles her chin on her chest, looking at Claire with half-lidded eyes and a light smile. “However sexy spur-of-the-moment sex sounds, I find in practice it’s generally better for all involved if you talk about it first.”

Claire closes her slack mouth. She’s never had a person say that to her right before they get to the nasty. Granted, she’s mostly been with guys. She pushes back, sitting on her heels, and Colleen lifts herself on her elbows.

“What do you wanna talk about?” she asks tentatively. Colleen licks her lower lip.

“Just, whatever you want. What do you want.”

“I’m” Claire takes a whooshing breath, “not sure. I guess I’m open to suggestions?”

Colleen gives her a far too sweet smile for what she says next. “I could just eat you out if you don’t feel like venturing.”

“No, I’m feeling… venturesome. I think.” She chuckles a little nervously and Colleen returns a breathy huff of laugh. She leans back, shifting into the lotus position.

“Have you ever tried tantric sex?”

“Uh,” Claire says. “Is it sex that involves massage and mediation?”

Colleen laughs softly.

“I’m gonna assume that’s a no,” Colleen says.

“It’s a safe assumption,” Claire says with a smile.

“Traditionally, it’s about lovers worshipping each other as embodiments of deities.” Claire feels her eyebrows rise on her forehead; Colleen gives her an abashed smile and ducks her head. “It’s about intimacy and being aware of your own body and your partner’s.”

“I’m not sure I’d be… good at that,” Claire says hesitantly. Colleen shakes her head slightly.

“It’s not a technique. It’s more like… a philosophy. Your goal should not be to reach a release but to relish the process.”

“So like… orgasm delay?” Claire asks, quirking her eyebrow.

“Not exactly. More like, prolonging orgasm. Or extended build up for a longer, more satisfying release. In tantric sex, orgasm is supposed to be a mystical experience.” Claire wets her lips.

“That does sound like fun. So how do you do it?”

“There’s no one way, but… you should focus on how your body feels. On your partner’s responses. Listen to your breathing,” Colleen says, her soft voice so much like during their sparring sessions.

Claire shifts on her hide, suddenly a little hotter.

“Like meditation?” Colleen smiles.

“A little bit. But with another person and more orgasms.” Claire laughs.

“That… sounds more up my alley. Meditation isn’t really my thing.”

“In tantric sex, patience is important too.” Colleen puts her right hand lightly on Claire’s breast. “Tell me what you feel.”

Claire’s breathing picks up. Colleen’s hand, still so gentle, curls around her breast, cupping it carefully. Her thumb flicks over her hardening nipple through the soft cotton t-shirt.

Claire’s breath catches in her throat.

“I…” Colleen gives her an encouraging smile. “I feel your hand on me. It’s… warm. Even through the clothes.” She gasps when Colleen pinches lightly her nipple. “I feel sensitive, in a good way.” Colleen kneads her breast between her fingers.

“Close your eyes,” she whispers. Claire’s eyelids flutter closed.

“I feel… my skin tingling,” she half whispers. “Like an itch, except I want to feel it more.” She feels herself get wetter and clench impatiently. Colleen squeezes her breast gently and lets her fingers slip away.

Claire opens her eyes.

“Good,” Colleen says quietly. Claire licks her lip.

“What else?”

“Uh… in tantric sex, usually you have clearly defined roles of a giver and receiver.” Claire nibbles at her wet lip.

“Like a Dom/sub thing?”

“Can be.” The throbbing between Claire’s legs intensifies. “But not necessarily. It’s about cherishing your lover and letting yourself be cherished in return.”

“So like a service top thing where you switch?” Claire asks. Colleen’s lips curl crookedly.

“If that helps.”

Claire shifts impatiently.

“It’s also about breaking sexual taboos. Like talking openly about your wants.” Colleen smiles her, just a little bit mischievous. “What do you want, Claire?”

“I… think I’d really like to have sex with you now,” Claire rasps.

Colleen laughs but also combs her hair behind her ears in an abashed gesture.

“Well, yes, but you ought to get more specific.” She bites her lip. “It’s about doing things you always were apprehensive to talk about, pushing your limits. Here, for instance.” She stands to her feet in one fluid motion and goes to look in the boxes with various equipment pushed to the side.

Colleen straightens up and turns around with a bundle of rope in her hand. Claire feels her cheeks prickle.

“Maybe we could try the knots again? You haven’t been able to escape them yet.”

Claire bites her lip.

“Maybe… you should show me how to do it?”

Colleen gets a wicked twinkle in her eye.

“You do work great with demonstration,” she says, something sensual about the way her tongue curls softly around the words.

“Damn right,” Claire murmurs.

Colleen sinks down to her knees, the rope stretched between her fingers; the ends of it dangle on the floor. Claire shifts attentively. She can feel her pulse throb stronger than ever.

“That’s… a lot of rope,” Claire says. Her throat is hoarse.

Colleen’s lips curl in a half-smile.

“Better too long a rope than too short. That way is more effective.” She folds the rope in half and puts it over her head around her neck. “Pay attention,” she says. “Maybe I’ll ask you to replicate it later.”

Claire is _very_ warm down there.

Colleen’s lithe fingers flutter butterfly-quick, tying a knot in the of her throat, in the dip between her breasts, on her waistline, just under her belly button. Claire swallows. Colleen tugs on her lower lip with her teeth and her eyes glance up at Claire, her chin propped on her chest. She smiles, still biting her lip, and her mouth stretches with the pull; Claire wants to be the one biting it. Then Colleen makes one last knot and pulls off her yoga pants in one fluid movement.

“Oh,” Claire breathes.

Colleen’s wearing boyshorts, so skin-tight that she could be not wearing anything. They end just under the crease of her thighs. Candy-orange looks _amazing_ against her light tawny skin.

She pulls the rope between her legs and does something with it at the nape of her neck that Claire doesn’t catch. Then she grabs the dangling ends of the rope and draws them to her front under each arm. The last knot is snug against her clit. Claire wets her lips.

After that, Claire loses her for a bit – Colleen’s hands flick tying some fancy loops, behind her back and around her chest again, creating an elaborate diamond-shaped harness. She secures the remaining length of the rope around her wrists and knots it at her back, the intricates of which escape Claire. Colleen looks up then and gives her a small smile, coy and a little mischievous.

“That,” Claire says when she finds her voice, “was definitely not necessary. Most of it is… gift wrapping.” Damn.

Colleen’s smile shows teeth.

“Form is important too,” she says, a solemn tone undercut with mirth in her dark gleaming eyes. “That’s what makes it an art.”

“Right,” Claire drawls, caught between dubious and flirtatious. She stands up and walks up slowly to Colleen. She trails her fingertips lightly over the spine of the rope. Colleen shivers. “So… now you show me how to escape this?”

“That’s the idea,” Colleen says, a little breathless.

Claire hums, and snakes her finger under one of the rope-ribs; Colleen’s breath hitches.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Claire says at last. “Since you made these very decorative knots yourself. How do I know you’re not cheating?”

“I wouldn’t,” Colleen says, all too earnestly for the game they’re playing. But then her lips purse in a lopsided smile. “But if you’re not convinced, you can always even the odds.”

Claire draws closer.

“How so?” Her voice is very low. Intimate.

“Distract me,” Colleen whispers.

Claire bites the angle of her jaw, sucks in her earlobe. Colleen gasps softly. She’s squirming against her; Claire slips her arms around Colleen’s slender frame, brushes her fingers ever-so-slightly on the insides of her wrists. Colleen starts, a small yelp-laugh escaping her lips.

“Oh, smart,” Colleen breathes.

“I get by,” Claire quips and leans in to kiss her.

She luxuriates in it for a while, learning the shape of Colleen’s soft lips with her own: the dip in the corner of her mouth, how her lower lip breaks in the middle, the full arcs of her upper lip. She traces the inside of Colleen’s mouth with a tip of her tongue, tickling the vulnerable skin of Colleen’s wrists with her arms loosely wrapped around her. Colleen shivers slightly, her hands stuttering in their ministrations. Claire draws back, their mouths smacking a little when they part, stays close enough that Colleen’s breath is warm on her lips. Claire takes her in with half-lidded eyes – Colleen’s own eyes are closed and her lips open slightly. There’s a small crease between her eyebrows and she bites the inside of her lip in concentration. Claire wants to rest her forehead against Colleen’s, feel Colleen’s eyelashes flutter on her cheeks, look at Colleen’s beautiful, sun-shaped face so close until her eyes go black.

She takes a step back. Colleen’s eyes open a slit, the wrinkle on her forehead furrows more. Claire wants to smooth it out. She trails her hands up to Colleen’s hips, slides them down to the creases of her thighs. She traces her fingers along the crease line a few times and then finds rope, hooks them under and presses her thumb right on the knot against Colleen’s clit.

Colleen keens softly. Claire catches the sound with her lips. Colleen tries to kiss her back but she’s successfully distracted, only puckers her mouth a little and lets it fall open. Claire’s happy to pick up the slack. She licks her way between Colleen’s lips, kneading her thumb in a circle over the knot. Colleen mumbles something indistinct into her mouth. She’s stopped struggling. Claire nips at her lower lip, pulls on it lightly. She slides her free hand to Colleen’s hip and grips it tightly, digs her nail a little into the smooth skin. She changes the pace of her other hand, moves her thumb slower and deeper up and down with the knot, like she wants to etch the way of her fingers into Colleen’s body. Colleen moans, a deep, _wonderful_ sound. Like a cat but much sexier. Claire loses the control over her lips; they’re not really kissing anymore, just breathing hotly into each other’s mouth. It’s kind of amazing. She focuses on rubbing her thumb between Colleen’s legs and listens for beautiful, reaffirming noises it draws from Colleen.

Claire slips her finger under the knot and touches Colleen through the thin layer of her panties. She’s hot on Claire’s skin and throbbing slightly. Like in anticipation. Claire bites her lip to quiet her own sigh and works her finger lower. She slips the tip of it between Colleen’s lips, thrusts shallowly inside through the fabric. Colleen gasps. Her head falls forward and finds purchase on Claire’s shoulder; she can feel Colleen’s brow quivering a little on her skin. Claire scratches Colleen’s hip lightly and lets go. She brings her free hand over the knot and presses down, moving the finger of her other hand in and out between Colleen’s legs. Colleen’s breath is hot and halting on Claire’s neck, Colleen’s silky hair that smells like peach and sweat is tickling her in the nose. Her hand is starting to cramp but Claire doesn’t want to stop, she wants to dig deep into Colleen’s body, see how far Colleen lets her take this.

“Claire,” she breathes. Colleen’s lips brush her earlobe. Claire bites the inside of her mouth, works her fingers deeper, faster. Colleen’s tense, almost shaking. All that tension, building up, it’s bound to snap. Claire turns her face, catches Colleen’s forehead against her own. She presses a soft, lingering kiss to the corner of Colleen’s mouth and flicks her thumb, just so. Lets her tip over.

Colleen gasps and her body goes loose. She rolls on her heels, languid, and Claire strokes her through it, rubs her finger on Colleen’s clit until a sweet sigh coming out of Colleen’s mouth subsides. Then Claire gently lays her hands on Colleen’s hips, tracing her thumbs on the rope loops. She kisses Colleen again, just a brush of lips on lips.

“Got you,” she whispers.

Claire leans back a little; Colleen’s smiling, less the curve of her mouth than something content in her features. Even through the post-orgasmic bliss, her eyes are lively.

“That you did,” Colleen says back to her softly. Her hands spring from behind her back and Claire finds herself flat on the mat, trapped by Colleen’s body.

“Now I got you,” Colleen says and gives her a cheeky grin.

Claire laughs, surprised and a little out of breath.

“How long were you waiting to do that,” she asks, impressed against herself.

Colleen blows a loose strand of hair from her face. Her breath tickles.

“A while,” she admits. Claire groans, mock-defeated. Colleen’s lips pull in a crooked smile. “It pays off to be patient and strike when it’s most unexpected.”

“Alright, lesson learned,” Claire concedes. She gives Colleen a slow, cat-smile. “You know, I didn’t really get all that,” she murmurs. “I think you’re gonna have to show it to me again some time.”

“Some time,” Colleen breathes in agreement.

Claire regards Colleen’s face. She can count all of Colleen’s eyelashes.

“So now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?” She means that last part to be suggestive, but it comes out breathless. Colleen licks her lips.

“I don’t know,” she murmurs. She leans back on her heels, her spine curved and arms caging Claire on each side. “What would you want me to do?”

“Is that how it works?” Claire asks, still out of breath. Her chest stills, anticipating. The needy wetness between her legs hits her with renewed force.

“It can be whatever you want it to.” Claire bites her lip.

“You said, breaking taboos, right? Talking openly about your wants and all that?”

Colleen’s eyes crinkle with a pretty smile.

“Yeah. You can talk to me about anything you want, no matter how unusual or risqué it seems.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I’m not much of a freak in the sack,” Claire admits. “Actually, I’m afraid I’m rather boring but – I always wanted to try blindfolds.”

Colleen exhales a little.

“I can do that,” she says quietly, almost a purr.

“Yeah?” Claire breathes.

“Yeah. Hold on.” Colleen rolls to her feet and up. Claire sits up and takes this moment to pull off her shirt. After a thought, she kicks off her shorts too. Then she props herself back on the mat and looks after where Colleen went. She shivers; it’s cold here, on her own.

Colleen comes back, twirling a long, black piece of cloth around her finger. Claire squints at it. A tie. She looks up at Colleen, raising her eyebrow incredulously.

“Please tell me it’s not D—”

“It’s mine,” Colleen cuts in. She plops down behind Claire and loops her arms around her.

“Huh,” Claire says, shivering again under Colleen’s touch, this time from warmth. “I didn’t know you wore ties. It’s kind of hard to imagine. You dressed up all fancy, I mean.”

“When the occasion is right,” Colleen says against her ear. “You’re gonna have an opportunity to see me fancy yet.”

“Hm. I’ll hold you to it,” Claire murmurs.

Colleen nips at her earlobe and then she pulls the tie over Claire’s eyes. The dim lights of the dojo disappear and silken darkness envelops her – it’s funny, how such a small thing can make all the difference, but it does. Claire’s world narrows to Colleen behind her and hot need. She’s keenly aware of her own body in a way she wasn’t just before.

“Lie back,” Colleen whispers.

Claire lowers herself down, guided by Colleen’s warm dry hands, carefully lays her head on the mat between Colleen’s thighs. Everything feels slowed down and immediate at the same time now that she can’t see.

Then Colleen stands up. Claire frowns but stays put, waiting. Colleen’s reassuring hands touch her again, close over her ankles and pull her forward. Claire lets herself be pulled.

Whisper-light fingers travel along her shins to her hips and slip under the band of Claire’s panties.

“Is this okay?” Colleen’s quiet but her soft voice seems to surround her.

Claire means to say, “More than okay” or maybe “C’mon, I ain’t got all day” but what comes out is a husky, “Yeah.”

A beat, and then her panties are tugged down. Claire gasps at the air hitting her bare skin. It makes her even hotter.

Colleen’s hands pull the panties down her knees and to her ankles; Claire lifts her legs to give easier access for Colleen to tug off her underwear completely. Colleen’s fingers find her ankles again, slide up her calves and gently part her thighs. Claire bites hard on her lip.

“C’mon,” she grunts.

Claire gets the sense that Colleen’s laughing – she’s not really making noise, just her breathing changes, jerky and shallower. It’s weird. Good weird.

Colleen leans closer. Claire holds her breath. Warm exhale of air tickles her skin. She pulsates urgently. God, she’s wet. If Colleen won’t move soon, she might—

Tongue brushes her clit. Breath catches in her throat. She shivers. Another sweep, more purposeful. Slick, light. She needs more pressure so badly she could just _die_. Colleen rubs the inside of her knee and really gets into it; she laps between Claire’s folds, licks inside where she’s positively drenched, pushes the tip of the tongue inside her. Hot wave of breath crashes deliciously on her wet skin. Colleen’s silky hair brushes against the sensitive skin of her thighs. Colleen sweeps her tongue up in a long, deep stroke and sucks in her clit. Claire groans breathlessly. Then Colleen tugs lightly on her lips, licks up Claire’s sloppy wetness, tongue curling. Claire’s strung tight as a bow, caught between a gasp and a choked moan.

Colleen pulls back a little, her breath ghosting on her licked slick skin. Claire lets out a heavy exhale. Something thick and slippery falls on her clit; Colleen’s spittle.

A groan barely slips through her lips then Colleen’s right there, smearing saliva all over her, stroking her slick tongue up and down and up and down, rubbing her clit in circles mercilessly. Claire arches off the mat; she feels like she’s going to burst out of her skin. She digs her heels in, toes curled. Her hands claw searching for purchase. She’s too overcome to make a noise, caught up in hot, fast, hard, _more_.

Then the tension snaps. A wave of warm shudders runs down her belly, arms, legs. Sweet, sweet throbbing in her clit climbs up and tips over; she’s cozy and sore and _good_.

Colleen licks her through it all, rubs her lazy-languid body to shaking again and wrings another orgasm out of her that’s punch-quick and on the verge of painful.

“ _Ooof,_ ” Claire exhales, letting her head bang on the floorboards. Ow. She pushes the blindfold up her forehead. “That was _intense_.”

“Hm, I don’t know,” Colleen says, propping herself up on her elbow next to Claire. She looks down, grinning. “I think you’ve got one more in you. Come on.”

Claire laughs breathlessly and then she’s not laughing anymore because Colleen’s kissing her and she’s kissing back.

Maybe one more time.

 

After four more times – who would’ve thought that rope can be so versatile? – Claire is so sweaty and spent that Colleen has to drag her under the shower. Claire groans, a protest that they’re never gonna get cleaned if they shower together not quite making its way on her lips. In the end, they don’t have the energy to do much more other than stand under the stream and kiss lazily. After a moment Colleen leans back and brushes a wet lock of hair from Claire’s face.

“Good workout?” Colleen asks, out of breath. She’s grinning.

“The best kind,” Claire says back genuinely with a smile.

“Anytime,” Colleen says lightly and leans for another kiss.

 

* * *

 

So: the thing is, Colleen is far from a normal person by any kind of standards. And Claire knows from extensive and _very_ exasperating personal experience that trying to keep the regular life from the crazy never really sticks with her kind of people. Gifted, or whatever. There will come a day when New York needs saving again, and Colleen will answer the call because that’s the person she is. And then they’ll have to deal with the world outside their private haven of Colleen’s dojo, and it will be anything but simple. That’s what world-shattering events will do to you.

But maybe Colleen is right. Let her future self worry about the future; for now, it’s easy and _nice_ and Claire should just stop twisting herself into knots overthinking everything. Maybe it’s as complicated as she makes it.

Or maybe the universe is trying to tell her something. There’s a reason she keeps falling for complicated people. She knows she should stay away from the trouble – but then again, Claire’s never been good at doing what she ought to. No one asked her to pull a strange man in a mask from her dumpster all that time back which started this. Something keeps pulling her to the flame – fate, a fatal flaw in her psyche, really rotten luck. Whatever the case may be, she’s no longer just a civilian caught in the crossfire. Maybe it’s time she admits that she’s just as crazy as the rest of them.

If Claire’s being honest with herself, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> In this timeline Colleen and Danny have broken up somewhen after _Defenders_ , like Lesbian God intended.


End file.
